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Teenage girls are scamming ISIS for cash

Schadenfreude (noun): Satisfaction or pleasure derived from the misfortune of others.

Ok, it’s not big, and it most certainly isn’t clever, but you can probably afford yourself a wry smile at the news that a group of Chechnyan girls has reportedly scammed ISIS recruiters out of thousands of pounds.

Police in Russia apparently detained the women after they posed as would-be brides, persuading the jihadists – who had contacted them via social media– to wire them “travel money” ahead of a supposed pilgrimage to Syria.

Speaking with Russian site Life News, one of the women – who called herself Maryam – said: “He began to lure me, saying, ‘Do you want to come to Syria, here it is very good.’ I told him that I had no money.

“He told me he would send me 10,000 rubles [£110].”

But, after receiving the cash, Maryam blocked her future ‘husband’ from making contact online. Suffice to say she didn’t show in Syria, either.

Realising she’d stumbled upon a unique business opportunity, Maryam and two other women began convincing many other ISIS recruiters that they’d join the fight in the Middle East, banking a reported 200,000 rubles (£2,100) along the way.

The trio has now apparently been arrested in Russia, after security services trailed their movements online.